Pumpkin Spice Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Get in the Halloween spirit with this fabulous holiday treat — Pumpkin Spice Iced Pumpkin Cookies.

Pumpkin Spice Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Photo by Brian Feulner/BDN

Pumpkins are decorating stoops, and costumes are filling aisles in stores. Candy, in orange and black packaging, is filling the shelves. Soon the din of ringing doorbells and choruses of “trick or treat” will be heard in the streets.

Halloween is coming. And like many kids — and some adults — I couldn’t be more excited. There’s a childlike joy that comes with the merriment of a holiday devoted to dressing up and enjoying candy and other treats.

My kids have chosen their costumes. For my daughter, the costume was a no-brainer. She’s been searching for anything Elsa-related (from the movie “Frozen”) for the last year. When we spotted an Elsa costume at Target one September day, I agreed to help her buy it (she had allowance to spend, but not enough). We later found an Elsa wig as well. She can’t wait to enjoy her first Maine Halloween as the wintery-themed queen.

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But for my son, this Halloween costume shopping was a challenge. We’ve only recently moved here from homogenized Connecticut where scary costumes are as disagreeable as hearing Bangor mispronounced as (no, it’s really not Bang-er). Although I adore scary costumes, we will be joining friends in the Nutmeg State for Halloween festivities this weekend — so Will had to choose a non-scary costume appropriate for the Connecticut crowd.

The many zombie-based costumes (and the Headless Horseman — a personal favorite!) were so alluring but we settled on a fire ninja costume, minus the weapons for now (again, thanks to our plans in Connecticut).

Next year though? I promised we’d go the scary-route. Bloody, frightening, undead — it’ll all be fair-game. Well, as long as Will doesn’t choose a clown … I have to draw the line somewhere — thanks, Stephen King.

As for me? My costume (it’s a secret!) is ready to go too. I’ve dressed up nearly every year of my life, save for the one as a child when I was incredibly sick on Halloween and one year more recently when I just couldn’t get in the spirit. Fortunately, I re-found my love of all things Halloween.

Iced Pumpkin cookies

Photo by Brian Feulner/BDN

As we get closer to the night of fright, I am also excited to share one of my favorite fall treats: Pumpkin Spice Iced Pumpkin Cookies. These moist cookies have a sweet, spiced glaze that whispers sweet nothings to all the goodness of fall. They are perfect for all your Halloween festivities.

Pumpkin cookies

Photo by Brian Feulner/BDN

I’m told it’s the glaze, flavored with pumpkin pie spice, that really makes these cookies stand out. But you can be the judge of that.

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Pumpkin Spice Iced Pumpkin Cookies
yields 3 dozen

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tbsp canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pumpkin Spice Glaze

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and baking powder using a wire whisk.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the butter, brown sugar, pumpkin, oil, egg and vanilla extract until combined. The butter will be small pieces in the mixture. with the mixer running on its lowest speed, add the dry ingredients to the batter a little at a time until fully incorporated.

Using a medium cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon, drop dough onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving about 1-inch between mounds. Bake for 12-14 minutes until slightly browned. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool.

Once the cookies are cooled, make the glaze. Stir together all ingredients. Then, transfer to a resealable bag and snip the corner. Drizzle over the cookies.

Sarah Walker Caron

About Sarah Walker Caron

Sarah Walker Caron is editor of Bangor Metro magazine and senior features editor for the Bangor Daily News. She is the author of "The Super Easy 5-Ingredient Cookbook," (Sept. 2018, Rockridge Press) and the co-author of "Grains as Mains: Modern Recipes Using Ancient Grains" (March 2015, DK). Her recipes have appeared in the BDN, Betty Crocker publications, Glamour.com and more. She also writes about food at www.sarahscucinabella.com.